Welcome to The Fintech Files, keeping you up-to-date with the latest developments in financial tech and innovation. Regular host Yolanda Bobeldijk is on maternity leave, so this week's edition is brought to you by Lucy McNulty, FN's regulation and Brexit editor.

Avoiding a crypto clampdown
After a year of wild fluctuations in the value of cryptocurrencies and a frenzy for so-called international coin offerings, UK, US and European policymakers have ramped up efforts to determine how best to regulate startups in the digital money sector. This regulatory attention looks set to fundamentally change the shape of the sector, but one influential Conservative politician believes that it “would be a mistake” for governments to clamp down hard on virtual currencies despite “the inevitable worries” they bring.